Salesforce Sinks Despite Beating Earnings

Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported fiscal second-quarter financial results after markets closed Tuesday. The company said that it had $0.33 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.56 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.32 in EPS and $2.51 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.24 in EPS and $2.04 billion in revenue.

Subscription and support revenues totaled $2.37 billion, an increase of 26% from last year, while professional services and other revenues were $193 million, an increase of 28%.

Separately, deferred revenue was $4.82 billion, an increase of 26%, or 25% in constant currency. Unbilled deferred revenue was approximately $10.4 Billion, up 30%.

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In terms of guidance for the coming quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $0.36 to $0.37 and revenues in the range of $2.64 billion to $2.65 billion. There are consensus estimates calling for $0.36 in EPS and $2.61 billion in revenue.

Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, commented:

We had a phenomenal quarter of growth, reaching a huge milestone for the company, becoming the first enterprise cloud software company to break the $10 billion revenue run rate. We did this faster than any other enterprise software company in history. Our continued momentum as the leader in CRM, the fastest-growing segment of our industry, combined with more than $15 billion in billed and unbilled deferred revenue, puts us well on the path to $20 billion and beyond.

Shares of Salesforce closed Tuesday up 1.3% at $92.95, with a consensus analyst price target of $101.33 and a 52-week range of $66.43 to $93.44. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was initially down 4% at $89.16 in the after-hours trading session.

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